


Dust Town Daughters

by Felicia_Rottingstone



Series: The Rogue of Orzammar [1]
Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age: Origins
Genre: Gen, Pre-Dragon Age: Origins, Protective Siblings, Sister-Sister Relationship, Sisters
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-26
Updated: 2019-08-26
Packaged: 2020-09-27 12:23:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 986
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20407714
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Felicia_Rottingstone/pseuds/Felicia_Rottingstone
Summary: Set several years before Dragon Age: Origins, Natia Brosca learns of her big sister's new profession.





	Dust Town Daughters

Seventeen-year-old Natia Brosca sprawled on the bed she shared with her sister, head hanging over the side, feet leaning up against the stone wall of their small, two-room hovel. Her eyes were fixed on her older sister’s hair as Rica massaged oil into the long red tresses. 

“I don’t get it. What does long hair have to do with your new job?” Natia asked. “Are you going to sell it or something?”

“I’m not selling my hair, little gem,” Rica answered, a smile of amusement crossing her face. Natia wrinkled her nose at the old nickname. She was almost fully grown now, and she didn’t need to be treated like a baby. Least of all by a sister that was only two years older.

“So, what then?”

“I need to look good, that’s all,” Rica answered coyly. She’d only mentioned the new job in passing a few days ago, when Natia asked her where she kept disappearing off to. So far, the older girl had refused to give any details about it. The secrecy annoyed Natia. She and Rica didn’t keep secrets from each other. From their mother, yes, all the time. But not from each other.

“What, did you somehow convince a noble house to take you on as a cleaner? Because I don’t think they actually care how you look, as long as you do your job well.”

Rica sighed heavily and put her brush down. She looked over at Natia, her creamy complexion as flawless as ever, and Natia’s confusion deepened. Rica didn’t need to look any better than she did. She was already the most beautiful girl in Dust Town, if not all of Orzammar. Her dark eyes, high cheekbones, broad, pretty nose, and flawless, creamy skin looked like they belonged on the face of a noble caste woman, not some nobody from Dust Town. Natia suspected that was because Rica’s father was most likely of the noble caste, although she didn’t have a clue who he might be. 

Natia hadn’t had the same luck. Her father had been casteless, just like their mother, and if Natia looked anything like him, he must have been one ugly bastard. Where Rica’s lips were full and shapely, Natia’s were thin and straight. Where Rica’s eyes were large and angular, Natia’s were small and beady. The contrasts between the two were numerous. Rica’s nose was broad and dished. Natia’s was narrow and stuck out like a beak. Rica’s hair was soft and straight and the color of rubies. Natia’s was the color of soot and wiry. They barely even looked like sisters.

“What if I told you I found a way for us to get out of Dust Town?” Rica asked. “Permanently?”

“What, like go to the surface? I’m sure mom would love that,” Natia scoffed. 

“No, I mean stay in Orzammar, but maybe move to a different part of the city,” Rica clarified.

“We can’t. See this brand? Did you forget what it means?”

“I didn’t forget,” Rica sniffed. “But there are ways to elevate one’s self. If you know the right people. Look a certain way. Are willing to do what it takes.”

“What are you talking about?” Natia demanded, rolling onto her stomach and pushing herself upright. “The whole point of being casteless is that we’re stuck here. Like garbage.”

“Forget it,” Rica sighed. “You wouldn’t understand.”

“No, I won’t forget it. Tell me what your new job is!”

“I’m going to be a noble-hunter.”

Natia’s mouth hung open in shock. “That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard.”

“It’s not stupid,” her sister snapped back. “If I find a nice noble-caste man and bear him a son, I’ll be able to move both you and mom out of this slum. I could change the fate of our whole family.”

“Or you could bear him a daughter and turn into mom,” Natia pointed out, narrowing her eyes at her big sister. “Besides, what makes you think he wouldn’t just take a son and toss you out?”

“That’s what my good looks are for.” Rica smiled brilliantly at Natia, and the younger girl’s anger left her. Rica was right. She was pretty enough to keep around. “Plus, Beraht is going to make sure I’m educated on all the finer points of being a noble’s mistress. Poetry and history and etiquette. All of that.”

Natia groaned. Being a noble-hunter was stupid enough, but indebting herself to Beraht, the Carta boss, was even worse. Beraht was known for being a slippery bastard that squeezed every coin and drop of blood from the people he controlled. Once a dwarf started working for him, they only stopped when they returned to the stone. 

Rica sensed her sister’s disapproval and joined her on the bed, wrapping one arm around Natia’s shoulders. “I want more for us. I want more for you. I can’t sweep the streets for the rest of my life, not when I know there’s more that I can do.”

“It seems like an awfully big risk,” Natia complained, leaning her head on Rica’s shoulder. “I don’t want anything bad to happen to you.”

“Hey, it’s my job to take care of you, little gem,” Rica laughed. 

Natia sighed and let her sister fuss over her. She couldn’t fault Rica’s reasons for doing this. She wanted more out of life, too. She wanted to see Rica somewhere safe and happy and not exhausted or drunk for the rest of her life, like their mother. But she refused to let Rica take on the weight of it all. She wasn’t pretty like Rica, but she had other skills. She was pretty good in a fight, for one, mostly because she’d been scraping with the other duster kids since she was old enough to walk. Maybe there was something she could do to make it a little easier on Rica. 

Maybe she could get her own job with Beraht.


End file.
